Not Goh's bodyguards

We refer to The Jakarta Post's article Goh's men nabbed, released of Dec. 18 under the Greater Jakarta column.

We would like to clarify that:

Singapore Police confirm that three officers from the aircraft security team covering Prime Minister Goh's recent trip to Jakarta were rounded up by the Indonesian Police at a local entertainment center in Taman Sari, West Jakarta at about 1 a.m. on Dec. 17, 2002. The three officers were not the bodyguards of the Prime Minister. They were at the entertainment center during their off-duty hours when they were brought to the local police station. They were all carrying identification papers with them at that time. However, the Singaporean officers had difficulties communicating with the Indonesian police officers due to the language barrier. They were subsequently allowed to leave the police station after the Indonesians managed to verify the particulars of the three officers. Before they left, the Indonesian police officers had apologized to our officers for the inconvenience caused.

WILLIAM TAN, First Secretary, Singapore Embassy, Jakarta